What Is The Purpose Of The Witches In Macbeth

  The tragedy of Macbeth comes about because of a single event in his life. If that one moment, the meeting with the witches on the heath, had not happened then Macbeth would no doubt have gone on to be a loyal and respected subject of King Duncan and, later, King Malcolm. However, the meeting did happen and the powerful force of ambition was unleashed within Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It is the combination of these two factors, the meeting with the witches and Macbeth's own inner demons, that lead to tragedy, and make the play 'terrifying' in the Aristotelian sense.

Macbeth’s insanity is resulted from the true supernatural things he encounters in the play. The three witches are supernatural characters that play an important role in Macbeth’s spiral to becoming insane. Right off the bat the readers or audience feel the creepiness and uneasiness that radiates off of the witches. The witches famous line “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” (cite), gives everyone a look at how dark this play is. Macbeth’s first time meeting the witches paved a way for his insanity. The three witches inform Macbeth that he will be Thane of Glamis and then one day become king. This causes Macbeth to over think things, and have contradicting thoughts on whether he believes in such prophecies, or if they are trying to trick him. Macbeth’s second visit from the witches included visions of different people. After the witches add ingredients to the cauldron, the visons start appearing. The first one was an armed head telling him to beware of Macduff. The second, was a bloody child that said he could not be hurt by anyone who was born of a woman. The third one is a child holding a tree and wearing a crown. This vision meant that Macbeth would not be defeated until Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane. All of these visions allude to the fact that Macbeth is becoming insane. Slowly but surely as supernatural events occur he has trouble deciphering what is real and what is not. A

At this point in the novel Macbeth is using the witches as a guideline to his life. The apparition that he cannot be harmed by anyone born of woman creates a false sense of security within himself. Even at this point, Macbeth still has a choice of whether or not to believe the witches. The weird sisters have not put any spell on him; they have just filled his greedy mind with a sense of security and power for kingship.

Macbeth, despite influences of the witches and Lady Macbeth, is responsible for his downfall. The witches are not fully to blame but do play a part in Macbeth's tragedy. In William Shakespeare’s play "Macbeth", Macbeth is a hero who soon destroys himself by his own wicked and selfish ambitions. To a certain degree, the witches can be blamed for the tragedy, although the blame can easily fall amongst Macbeth’s ambitious nature, and Lady Macbeth’s manipulation. Overall, the witches play an important role in the tragedy, but the blame cannot be purely placed on the witches as there are the other factors involved in the play, causing the tragic ending.

When Shakespeare wrote his play, Macbeth in 1606 a large majority of people were interested in witchcraft. This is why Shakespeare made the witches and the witches’ prophecies play a major part in the storyline of the play. In the time of Macbeth witches were not thought to be supernatural beings themselves, but supposedly gained their powers by selling their souls to Satan. There can be little doubt that most of Shakespeare’s audience would have believed in witches, and for the purpose of the play, at least, Shakespeare also accepted their reality.

Within Macbeth, there are three witches which are supposed sisters. These witches are very symbolic of demonic thoughts and actions. They consistently lurk among the side lines and implant a sense of negativity among the characters throughout the entire play. The use of their couplets displayed within the play also contributes to the whole idea of witchcraft. The most famous line within the play from the witches would “Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble”. As the witches speak of a cauldron and fire burning, it is as if they are mentally preparing potions to perhaps bring disaster upon certain characters.

“All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”(1.3.47-49). The three witches prophecies throughout the play are major influences in helping the plot develop. As well they develop the character of Macbeth and reveal the morals he holds. This play by Shakespeare which of the three types he writes is a tragedy. These tragedies are all brought upon by Macbeth’s doing. The heinous murders he commits are all brought upon by the prophecies the three dark and evil witches have spoken to Macbeth. These three witches are perceived as all things evil. They are the living embodiments of darkness and are born to destruct those weak enough to listen. “Macbeth” is a play of evil, hurt and self-fulfillment which are all from the prophecies being brought to Macbeth. Self-fulfillment is “…how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not, affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person (or group) will behave.”(Menton). The witches use their knowledge of this term and idea in order to manipulate Macbeth into fulfilling what he has been told, no matter how dark the duty is.

Many of the acts associated with witches that are prevalent in the literature on this subject seem to be of a diabolical nature. The primary cause of this is that the elites had access to a literary medium which tended to leave behind sources that the historian can access in a more direct manner than the mainly oral traditions of popular culture (p. 61 course manual). These oral traditions were the primary means of conveyance for these

The Tragedy of Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare during the early 1600s. The play is set in Scotland. The main character, Macbeth, is influenced by the witches’ prophecies and decides to kill Duncan, the current king, to become king. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a loyal and trustworthy thane. After encountering the witches, he became a traitor who would kill anyone to be king. The witches practice witchcraft, which is the practice of magic that uses spells and calls spirits. It well known during this period. Many people associate witchcraft with evil and demons because of their satanic rituals. They also believed that witches worshipped the Devil. Throughout the play, witchcraft is portrayed as evil from the chaos created by the witches and is shown through Macbeth.

Often when someone thinks of a witch, they think of a green lady on a broom. However, witches in the 16th century were slightly different. Witches, portrayed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth are women always causing trouble. These women thrived off of causing chaos and plotting schemes. They would often have a familiar to accompany them or another witch. Shakespeare gives an excellent representation of how people imagined witches to be in the Elizabethan era by the trinity of witches seen in his famous tragedy, Macbeth.

Shakespeare uses the witches to reassure Macbeth that there is nothing to worry about; “the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” this leads him to believe he is invincible, he trusts them as a result of all the other prophecies told becoming true, this puts him at ease.

In folklore, witches are regarded as evil doers who lead mortals down dark paths. For example, in Elizabethan times witches were seen as agents of chaos and embodiments of the devil. In the play Macbeth, the three witches are most responsible for all of the tragic crimes committed. The witches planted the seed of ambition into Macbeth’s mind, manipulated him by telling twisted truths and tampered with the natural order. For these reasons, they are most to blame and without their interference there would be no story.

In the 16th century, witchcraft became popular because people believed it had a better explanation of unexpected unfortunate events, rather than the working of God’s will (“Witchcraft”). It is practiced by both men and women, but mostly stereotyped to only women. A typical witch was described as being

The Witches are tempted to mess with people and tell them what they want to hear. Witch's mess with a sailor at the beginning of the book because his wife would not feed them. It was appealing to do this because of his wife. But they don’t stop there, they also tackle Banquo and Macbeth. The Witches tell Banquo and Macbeth about their future and get in there heads. They are tempted to inform them on little pieces so they can decide their own fate. Apparitions were also used to tempt Macbeth into wanting to know more. The Witches show Macbeth the apparitions which twist around the truth to make him feel more confident than he should be. They only let him know a tiny piece and leave the most important part out. Although, cold hearted witches aren't the only ones up to no good.

will be not so happy because he will have an early death, but he will